Main Page

Welcome to the wiki of the Hackuarium association!
You can visit our website as well if you fancy.

BIG NEWS: Hackuarium has moved to a new location!
The new address is Route de Crochy 20, 1024 Ecublens
Open Hackuarium nights are on Wednesdays, 19:00-22:00 as always
Check the list below for upcoming events

We just formed a new cooperative with some like-minded people, and have already begun moving into our new home in Ecublens. Here is a short description of the idea for the new space, in French and in English. If you have any suggestions, ideas or are simply interested in helping our community thrive, please get in touch: hello@hackuarium.ch

At Hackuarium, we want to bring biology (and biologists) to the world, and the real world back to biology. Our laboratory is an excuse to meet and discuss, build and develop ideas in a neutral, open, noncompetitive and not-for-profit environment. We would like to thank the Foundation Inartis for hosting our activities in Renens for the past four years, and we will keep you informed on this page when we have found a new 'chez nous' where we can install our biohacker space and P1 lab.

This page was launched during our 1st Ever Hackuarium Wiki Sprint that took place on 7 December 2014. As you might notice quickly, almost everything here is still a work-in-progress.

What is DIYbio?

DIYbio (Do-It-Yourself biology) is a movement that wants to free the practice of biological research and innovation from the institutional and industrial laboratories. Pursued both by amateurs and professional biologists, DIYbio is developing low-cost and low-tech solutions to problems identified by the community.

The movement is characterised by an extremely diverse set of practices and participants. Some call themselves 'biohackers', in reference to the hacker culture. The quick solution (even if unconventional) is what is meant by hacks...

DIYbio.org and DIYbio.eu are the portals of the international and european communities, respectively.

We actually believe more and more in doing DIT (Do-It-Together) Science, not just 'DIYbio,' as it reflects better the scope of the trans-disciplinary projects we do (often not only biology).

What is Hackuarium?

Hackuarium is a not-for-profit association aiming to democratise science through public engagement.

Our laboratory in Renens (Switzerland) is open to anyone sharing the values of the association and who is dedicated to follow the DIYbio Europe ethical guidelines.

Our projects are initiated and carried out by scientists and non-scientists from a variety of backgrounds. They are passionate about tinkering with biology in particular, and technology in general. Some are engineers, architects, designers, IT and computer scientists or retired professionals, but others have no scientific education. They are mostly citizens interested in open and participatory research and innovation, outside the constraints of traditional institutions.

Hackuarium members want to investigate new ways of carrying out interdisciplinary research and innovation, by making their results accessible (low-cost), simple and easily reproducible (low-tech) and by promoting an open source philosophy.

Where are we located?

Hackuarium is currently searching for a new home after being generously hosted for four years in infrastructures provided by UniverCité, an unconventional innovation hub that opened in May 2014 in the "Ateliers" in Renens (formerly IRL building). Our equipment is mostly upcycled material from institutions and industries from western Switzerland. We have documented our working environment as it has evolved. Currently, our big hoods and other equipment are in storage, ready to be moved into our new lab space!

Between December 2015 and January 2017, UniverCité regrouped our laboratory, a workshop and coworking space. The floor where we originally moved in 2014 required some refurbishing and was under construction work from January until June 2017, and we temporarily relocated on the first floor of the same building. Since July 2017, we have been back on the second floor of what is now called the "Ateliers de Renens" Chemin du Closel 5, 1020 Renens. The original plan in the renovated space was to have a biohackerspace on one side, with a 'pro' lab space on the other, and a shared biosafety level 1 laboratory in between. The community lab idea for UC, however, has now been given over to primarily startup and co-working hosting.

When Hackuarium was asked to pay rent as if it were already a startup with a successful business plan, the members decided during an extraordinary general assembly meeting (on 12 September 2018), that we would have to look for a new place to set-up our biohacker space and P1 lab, with enough room to allow further growth and exciting collaborations. A cooperative with another association (Octanis) and a few other startups has come together to look for a new place to call home and provide space for everyone's projects and work. If you have ideas, please do pass them on to any board member! We very much welcome your help and input!

Who are we?

Our members reflect the diversity that is in and around the Lausanne area.

The Agenda of the next board meeting can be found here.
The Agenda of the last meeting, our annual General Assembly meeting, can be found here.
We have begun the move into our new lab space, in the context of a new cooperative in Ecublens.

Members and Membership

Do you have a project in mind? Do you just want to support us?

Hackuarium operates on a membership basis, even though all events are open to anyone, including non-members.

The monthly membership fee is 20 CHF. It gives 24/7 access to the lab.

We would love to have you as a member! Just follow the instructions below.

Want to join?

We have a new form on the website, to fast-track joining the community, if you are keen, perhaps after a few #OpenHackuarium experiences (every Wednesday evening is open to the public).

Practical Information

Rules at Hackuarium

We have very few rules at Hackuarium. The goal of the association is to provide freedom to its members, so they can explore beyond what is allowed elsewhere. However, we want members and anyone participating in our activities to feel comfortable and respected.

Use of P1 laboratory

As of November 2017, Hackuarium is officially hosting its own P1 laboratory. While we still lack some essential infrastructure (-80 freezer, ventilated fume hood), we are working on it...
More can be found out about use of this facility by following the next link...
P1 Lab Activities

Protocols

All the protocols that we use at Hackuarium will be found here (work in progress).
They are detailed and structured so that the main focus is on applications. The idea is to give crucial information on how to apply the most common techniques of the Biology toolbox. The protocols are structured as follow:

A scheme describing each

A brief description of the protocol and its use

A description of the different ways of carrying out the protocol. Ideally there should be a description of a commercial kit and a DIY kit.

A description of the safety issues and best practice

Information specific to Hackuarium and where to find the components, tools and reagents.

Consumable in stock

Instruments available

This page describes all the instruments available at Hackuarium (work in progress..), their location and how to use them.

Up-to-date list of instruments we still need

This on-line document contains all the instruments, tools and consumables we are looking for. We have a standard donation contract (contrat de donation, in French) and if your organisation happen to discard a piece of equipment we are (or may be) looking for, contact us!

Where we shop

As a general rule, we do not buy anything. We try to recycle, upcycle, bicycle, epicycle anything we can, or ask around if anyone can provide supplies for free.

In some cases it does not work out, and so these are the place where we can find what we need.

In any case, Please contact Luc Henry if you need to order anything in the name of Hackuarium.

Labware and Reagents

Consumables and some chemicals can be purchased from Huber Lab.
More chemicals can be obtained from Carl Roth.
If necessary, other chemicals and biochemicals can be obtained from Sigma Aldrich.
Molecular biology tools can be purchased from Qiagen.

Swiss-based Smiples has a very extensive listing of second hand laboratory and technical items. These can be bought from their online shop or from Ricardo.
But most laboratory hardware can be obtained from our network of friends and partners. Get in touch with Luc Henry if you need anything specific and we'll do our best to find it.